Countertop construction



Filed July 20, 1959 FIG.

INVENTOR PM a 3 FIG.

United States Patent @fiice 3,045,074 Patented July 24-, 1962 3,046,074 COUNTERTOP CONSTRUCTION Philip Ben Lieber, 1166 E. Kingshighway, Shreveport, La.

Filed July 20, 1959, Ser. No. 828,261 2 Claims. (Cl. 312-140.1)

The present invention pertains to countertops generally, but more specifically to a kitchen cabinet construction employing the use of a sheet plastic material known by its tradename of Formica as a countertop covering.

One of the objects of the invention is to facilitate onthe-job construction of the cabinet by pre-forming the countertop from a single sheet of the covering material into a main countertop working surface or deck and an upturned backsplash. The unit thus formed may then be cut to proper length by the workman on the job.

Another object of the invention is to provide proper bracing of the sheet in the form of wooden strips glued to the back side of the sheet near the area of the bend.

A further object of the invention is found in the preparation of an edge of the sheet forming the countertop into a half-lap joint which may be cut from the sheet on the job and used to align the terminal top edge of the backsplash in parallel relationship with the plane of the countertop.

Still another object of the invention is the positioning of the bracing material at such points as to re-inforce the countertop near the bend line between the countertop surface portion and the backsplash portion, yet permit the upper edge of the backsplash portion to be bent to conform to a wall surface which may be slightly out of a true plane.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description when viewed together with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a broken, isometric view of a countertop construction made according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another broken isometric view showing the countertop in position during the construction of a kitchen cabinet.

FIG. 3 shows a wall section, in plan view, and illustrates how the backsplash portion of the present invention is permitted to follow an irregularity on the surface of the wall.

In the drawing numeral designates the countertop generally. The countertop sheet material 11 is of a plastic composition known by the trade-name of Formicaa hard pressed sheet, relatively thin and capable of being bent to a small radius only by special process. In the present instance the countertop has been preformed for installation into a main surface 12 and a backsplash 13; the small radius 14 being pro-formed along the entire length of the sheet by heat and pressure. Supporting the back side of the bend 14 is a wooden strip 15 having one side edge conforming to the radius of the bend 14 in the sheet 11 and glued thereto in the manner illustrated.

Positioned directly above the radius strip 15 and running the entire length of the Formica sheet 11 is another bracing strip 16. This strip is also glued to the back side of the sheet 11 to add rigidity to the backsplash portion 13. In the actual forming process, the brace 16 is put in the proper position before the sheet is placed in the machine to be bent. After forming the radius 14 there is considerable spring-back of the material due to the stresses set up by bending. Therefore the brace 16 serves as a stop for the lower radial brace 15 as the bending stresses tend to rotate it back into a flat plane. The brace 16 further lends rigidity to the backsplash portion 13 in a horizontal plane and for a purpose which will be described later.

It will be remembered that the above is an assembly, formed and prepared before delivery to the job site. The over-all length of the assembly may vary, but is sulficiently long enough for the maximum czountertop length. The assembly is cut and fitted to the actual length by the workman on the job. It will also be noted that the radial bend 14 in the plastic sheet 11 is left slightly less than degrees. There will be a slight resiliency in the sheet at the point of the bend 14 when the sheet is brought to the full 90 degree bend as shown by the dotted lines 26 of FIG. 1. This spring thrust is used to advantage when the sheet is placed on the cabinet construction since it holds the backsplash portion 13 snugly against the wall against which the counter is being installed.

The countertop portion 12 of the plastic countertop cover is deliberately left long, as is the height of the backsplash portion 13. Moreover, the upper marginal edge 17 of the backsplash is provided with a half-joint 1'8 prepared beforehand by special machinery during the forming of the countertop assembly. Reference is made now to FIG. 2 which will illustrate the advantage of such construction.

In this figure numeral 19 designates a stud in the wall against which the counter is being installed. Numeral 20 designates a gypsum board known as Sheetrock, one of the common materials used to cover an inner wall surface. It will be noted that the Sheetrock has been removed from the wall at the rear of the backsplash 13 in the area of the bracing strips 15 and 16 so that these bracing strips might rest directly against the studs.

19. Continuing with this figure let it be supposed that a workman has cut the countertop assembly to length, has removed the Sheetrock from the wall to accommodate the bracing strips 15 and 16 and. is now placing the assembly in position over a previously prepared substructure 20. As has been previously stated, both the Working surface deck portion 12 and the backsplash 13 have been left deliberately long; so the workman must cut off the front marginal edge of the deck portion 12 flush and parallel with the substructure 20. Upper cabinets 27 are usually affixed to the wall or swung from the ceiling above the countertop. Many times the lower surfaces of these cabinets are not in a true plane and parallel with the countertop surface. Under ordinary circumstances such as this, the workman would be required to remove the entire countertop and trim the top edge of the backsplash so as to make some semblance of parallelism between the cabinets and the countertop surface. In the present instance, however, he simply employs the use of the top edge 17 of the backsplash 13, cutting it along the dotted line 28. He then inverts the strip 17 and installs it in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2, overlapping the half-joint 18 with the top edge of the backsplash 13 along the line he has just 'cut. By moving one end of this edge strip 17 up or down, the workman is permitted to make a neat alignment with the lower sides of the upper cabinets 27. Since the original thickness of the sheet material is small to begin 'with, the resulting joint is not noticeable.

It will be pointed out again that the countertop, in the vicinity of the radial bend 14, is very strong; and since it is prepared beforehand by special machinery and fixtures, the planes of the two surfaces 12 and 13 are square and true with respect to the bend line. This is of great advantage to a workman to know that he has at least one surface which he can work from that is absolutely straight and true.

FIG. 3 illustrates a wall section having spaced studs 21, 22 and 23 and an outside covering 24. It is common in dimensional lumber for widths to vary or for the lumher to warp or twist, causing dimensional variations in an assembly. The section illustrated shows one wall stud 22 that has been used slightly less in width than the adjacent studs 21 and 23. When the wall is covered on the inside with the gypsum board or Sheetrock 25, this leaves a portion of the wall slightly narrow and out of a true plane. While workmen who apply the finish to the wall are required to grout joints left between the sheets of gypsum board, they make little effort to true up a surface left irregular by a narrow wall stud. If a countertop were to be installed against such an irregular wall, it is readily seen that an unsightly crack would be left between the backsplash of the counter top and the wall at the depressed area.

By reference to FIG. 1 of the present invention it can be seen that the backsplash 13 can be bent along its length out of a true plane to conform to the irregularity in the wall surface, since the nearest brace 16 is spaced a considerable distance away from the top marginal edge thereof.

The above described construction results in a neat appearing cabinet with no unsightly patches or joints. The workman is given ample material in the original assembly for any conventional cabinet construction. He simply trims it to fit. Moreover, the upper strip 17 prepared beforehand as part of the backsplash 13 is of great advantage when positioning the basksplash up under cabinets which are not equally spaced above the countertop. The bracing and 16 gives adequate support to the bend 14 and prevents rupture of the bend by some falling object. The bracing further lends rigidity to the thin bac'ksplash which would otherwise go unsupported. While the thickness of the braces 15 and 16 are made the same as that of the conventional gypsum board used for wall surfaces, they do not necessarily have to be so, nor do they have to rest directly against the studs 19 in order to perform their duties as supports for the backsplash.

While I have described my invention in detail in a particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this has been by Way of example only, and that changes could be made in the particular construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a countertop construction wherein the covering material has only slight flexible characteristics, a countertop covering pre-bent to constitute countertop portion and backsplash portion, a bracing strip bonded to said covering in the bend area of said backsplash portion, an additional bracing strip bonded to the back side of said backsplash portion intermediate the height thereof, said aforementioned bracing strips comprising means for permitting bending of said covering in only a single plane, both of said bracing strips being constructed and arranged to fit in an area occupied by a section of wallboard removed from the wall studs to the rear of the backsplash portion, and a portion of said covering above said additional bracing strip being free of support for conforming to slight irregularities in the outer surface of the wall against which said countertop is installed.

2. In a countertop construction wherein the covering material has only slight flexible characteristics, a countertop covering pre-bent to constitute countertop portion and backsplash portion, a bracing strip bonded to said covering in the bend area of said backsplash portion, an additional bracing strip bonded to the backside of said back splash portion intermediate the height thereof, said aforementioned bracing strips comprising means for permitting bending of said covering in only a single plane, both of said bracing strips being constructed and arranged to fit in an area occupied by a section of wallboard removed from the wall studs to the rear of the backsplash portion, means comprising an upper edge portion of said backsplash portion free of support for conforming to slight irregularities in the outer surface of the wall against which said countertop is installed, said backsplash portion being longer than the normal height of a backsplash and provided with a half-joint along the marginal edge, and means for utilizing a strip cut from this marginal edge to align the upper edge of said backsplash portion with the lower edge of existing cabinets.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,739,077 Lisher Dec. 10, 1929 2,041,899 Brand May 26, 1936 2,648,370 Beach Aug. 11, 1953 2,867,864 Githens Jan. 13, 1959 2,895,778 Lieber July 21, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 661,025 Great Britain Nov. 14, 1951 

